Women In Optometry welcomes 10 new advisory board members to serve from 2025-2027. The WO advisory board plays a critical role in guiding editorial direction for the platform and alerting editors to important topics and issues. Each volunteer board member serves for a two-year period, with about half of the board being replaced each year.
Here are the new advisory board members for 2025-2027.
Jessica Dinwiddie, OD, Fayetteville, Arkansas
Dr. Dinwiddie, owner of The Exclusive Eye, says, “I have had the wonderful opportunity to work in several types of practice settings, including corporate optometry, multi-doctor and currently in a cold start private practice as well as nursing home settings. My main interests include primary care optometry, dry eye, myopia management, InfantSEE and sports vision.”
She adds, “I believe having experience in these different practice settings and interests allows me to bring a unique perspective and relate to other doctors in many different settings and specialties.”
Meagan Herring, OD, FAAO, CHHP, Kodiak, Alaska
Dr. Herring, a certified holistic health professional, is known as The Mindful Optometrist on Instagram. In addition to living and working in a remote island off the coast of Anchorage, “I also travel to Fairbanks to perform disability eye exams for the VA, helping veterans obtain benefits. Outside of clinic, I fill my time with various research and personal projects advocating for holistic and integrated eye care.”
Dr. Herring advocates integration of a more holistic perspective into optometry, “one that not only addresses the specific needs of patients’ vision but also connects the broader aspects of their overall health and well-being. Optometrists have a unique opportunity to serve as health care professionals who can recognize and address how visual health is intertwined with physical, mental and emotional well-being. I believe this is an essential step in advancing our profession, particularly for women in optometry, who lead the way in this transformational shift.”
Lisa Hornick, OD, MBA, FAAO, Rocklin, California
Dr. Hornick works in a private group practice, and her clinic is completely focused on dry eye patients. “I do in-office procedures, evaluations, follow-ups and pre- and post-op surgery patients. I see patients part-time and the rest of the time I spend lecturing, writing and consulting. Education is my passion.” With her MBA, as a key opinion leader and with her specialty practice within a primary care practice, she brings a unique perspective and experiences to the board.
As a board member, she hopes to help emphasize “that there is so much more to optometry than seeing patients.” She wants to encourage women ODs “to find the career path that most aligns with their values and goals.”
Anney Joseph, OD, FAAO, Rye, New York
Dr. Joseph works full-time with the VA providing tele-optometry services. She also works part-time in a multidisciplinary clinic, performing comprehensive eye exams on all ages. “I very much like this balance as I can keep up my clinical skills in person and I can work from home and have the flexibility for anything that comes up with my school-age children.”
Dr. Joseph brings the perspective of both a federal employee and of a doctor fully engaged in tele-optometry. “I never thought I could do our job remotely, but it is possible while not compromising on quality eye care. As a wife-mother-professional, the balancing act is tough and ever-going. Just when I think I have it managed, a child breaks their leg (or insert any life event) and finding the balance becomes a juggling act again.”
Jeanie C. Lucy, OD, PhD, MPH, MS, FAAO, Mokena, Illinois
Dr. Lucy is a scholar practitioner. She’s a public health doctor involved in academics as Dean for the School of Arts and Biomedical Sciences at Alverno College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is also president of a private practice in Mokena, Illinois. “My interests span across academics in pre-optometry programs, diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases and public health agendas regarding educating the public about the debilitating effects of glaucoma.”
She comes to the board with an interest in advocacy for women, specifically hoping to see more stories on income parity, women’s leadership in academic optometry and greater representation of women on boards of optometry-related organizations.
Chelsey Moore, OD, Springfield, Illinois
Dr. Moore has practiced at Prairie Eye Center, a large multidisciplinary MD/OD group for more than 14 years. For the past nearly five years, she has chaired the glaucoma clinic and spends almost all her time in patient care monitoring glaucoma patients. She also has a heart for advocacy for the profession. “I serve on committees of the American Optometric Association (AOA) and on the Illinois State Licensing Board. I have been President of the Illinois Optometric Association (IOA) and worked on other non-optometry community boards.”
She brings her drive for advocacy to this WO advisory board role. “Having been actively involved in the IOA/AOA, I understand the process of working with legislators and the community to stabilize and expand the future of optometry as well as scope advancement. I am proud that during my IOA presidency, I helped pass the Vision Care Plan Regulation Act (SB0764) unanimously.”
Riya Paranthan, OD, Bellingham, Washington
Dr. Paranthan enjoys providing comprehensive eye care, from diagnosing and managing complex ocular diseases, performing pre- and post-operative care for refractive, glaucoma and cataract surgeries, and fitting specialty contact lenses for patients of all ages at Northwest Eye Clinic, an MD/OD practice. She also serves as vice chairperson of the Washington State Board of Optometry.
She brings a diversity of experience to the board. “I have worked in various settings in the eye world from scientific research, corporate setting, private optometry clinic and now as part of an ophthalmology practice. I truly believe that as optometrists, we can carve our own niche based our own lifestyle choices and interests.”
While noting that women have made great strides in the profession, she also says women should discuss the challenges. “This may be uncomfortable, but I have spoken to many peers who have unfortunately had to deal with gender-based discriminations and violations throughout their journey as a student and as a doctor in the workplace. If we can provide a platform for such voices, I believe it would strengthen our community.”
Damaris Raymondi, OD, FAAO, New York, New York
Dr. Raymondi practices at NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan, the agency that operates public hospitals and clinics in New York City. Her work is “heavily ocular disease-based and with surgical management in all of the ophthalmology specialties. I wear my ownership hat at Sur Eye Care, my practice in my hometown of Queens, New York, and there I offer all forms of myopia control.” While she sees the whole family, the primary focus is on the pediatric patients.
Dr. Raymondi brings to the board a strong compassion for the underserved communities. “My perspective is on low-income underserved communities and how they too wholeheartedly welcome the latest treatments and technologies. Personally, I can fiercely advocate for the Latino community and make sure that they have access to all the new developments in the world of eye care.”
She would like to further WO’s platform as a focus for “finding a community of like-minded female ODs who are interested in pushing the career forward and who are excited about what’s next.”
Sheila Setork, OD, Chicago, Illinois
Dr. Setork, a passionate advocate for the profession, has worked in a variety of settings since she graduated from the Illinois College of Optometry in 2011. For three years, she was a Managing Optometrist in a corporate setting, “engaging in meeting and exceeding business metrics, such as conversion, sales to plan and exam goals.” From there, she went into a private ophthalmology setting, fitting specialty contact lenses. While there, she began a Low Vision Support Group, bringing people together monthly “to educate and empower patients afflicted with low vision.” And for the past six years, she has returned to corporate settings across the state. A mother of three, she is also trilingual, speaking Spanish and fluent Farsi in addition to English.
Joining the board will allow her to help highlight the need for “fair, considerate working conditions and salaries for women and working mothers.” Practicing kindness and compassion daily, she would like to lift others up. “I would like to highlight women’s contributions to optometry, whether they chose a path in education, private practice, corporate optometry, public health or other endeavors. I would like to emphasize the strength in finding the right options that ideally meet your passion, goals and lifestyle.”
Parres Wright, OD, FAAO, Chicago, Illinois
Dr. Wright is an associate professor at Midwestern University-Chicago College of Optometry. “Professionally, I have a passion for working with visually impaired and geriatric populations as well as increasing access to eye care and eye health education in underserved populations. Personally, I enjoy learning about and using technology and AI, as well as relaxing with adult coloring books.”
As an academic working with the next generations of optometrists, Dr. Wright would like to see more discussions on closing “the pay gap that exists for women in most professions, including optometry. I believe women often bring a unique set of skills and perspectives to their professions, which make them superb choices to lead,” she says. The conventional wisdom that the pay gap is too complex or too entrenched should be challenged, she says.
THANK YOU TO THE 2023-2025 ADVISORY BOARD
WO thanks the wonderful members of the 2023-2025 advisory board, who contributed to WO’s editorial mission. They shared their ideas and own experiences, and they made introductions to eye care professionals they knew or admired.
Here is the full current advisory board, including the six members who will serve one more year.
What do YOU want to see from the WO board this year? Let us know.